George L. Ward

George Louis Ward (10 September 1830-17 June 1896), born Georg Ludwig von Warder in Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia, was a Colonel of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War who made a name for himself in the Battle of Gettysburg during Pickett's Charge.

Biography
Georg Ludwig von Warder was born in the Kingdom of Westphalia to a German Protestant family, and he studied textile production at the University of Cologne. In the revolutions of 1848 Warder was a principal leader of the uprising in Westphalia against the Kingdom of Prussia but was wounded in the chest and emigrated to France, and from there to the United States in 1852.

Ward opened up a textile market in Pickens County, Georgia, where he moved in order to seek more employment outside of the highly-urbanized American north. He found the business to be low-paying compared to the business in Massachusetts, so he decided instead to practice law and was admitted to the bar of nearby Cherokee County after the death of lawyer Henry Selleck. Ward found success in this enterprise and was appointed a Captain in the Georgia State Militia.

When the American Civil War began in April 1861, Ward remained loyal to his state, which seceded to join the Confederate States. Ward was relatively low-ranking at the rank of Militia Captain, but he saw quick promotion after fighting in the Tennessee-Kentucky Campaigns in 1862. At the Battle of Perryville he was made a Lieutenant-Colonel for saving a fellow officer from a ditch created by a cannonball while the Union were launching an all-out attack on his positions. Following this brave display came transferring to the Army of Northern Virginia in December 1862, and he saw action in the Battle of Fredericksburg and again in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, during which he made the rank of Colonel.

Ward would again display his courage in the Battle of Gettysburg on the third day during Pickett's Charge. He was in command of the "German Legion", the 117th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Ward led the unit from the front lines during the attack on the Union, wearing a distinctive gray top hat. He dressed in a private's uniform so that he could fit in with his men and be treated as they did, and sure enough was shot. The bullet hit him in the tophat, grazing his scalp and knocking him unconscious. Corporal Joseph Pegram saved his colonel, dragging him back to the Confederate field hospital and saving his life. Surely, had a man from a different regiment seen him, he may have mistaken him for an average soldier and left him for dead. Ward recovered in time to fight in the skirmishes of fall 1863 and in early 1864, but in mid-1864 he was again wounded in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and was forced to retire due to the seriousness of the wounds he contacted. As a civilian he accompanied Robert E. Lee on his campaign against Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia and surrendered with him at Appomattox Court House.

After the war, Ward was in close correspondence with Lee, writing through letters. After Lee's death in 1870 Ward continued to practice law and eventually became a member of the House of Representatives for the state of Georgia, from 1887 to 1889. He retired due to fading health, as he had suffered from kidney cancer for a year before. He battled with the disease for nearly seven years with three resurgences. A final blow took his life in 1896. His son Robert E. Ward (1856-1938), named for his brother-in-arms Lee, continued the family business and became a representative from 1901 to 1904.